Green Cards

The experienced
immigration lawyers at the LL.M. Law Group can assist foreign nationals
obtain lawful permanent residency in the United States, or a "Green Card."
We offer special prices for Green Card packages, or can help immigrants prepare and file the following applications relating to
Green Cards:

Adjustment of Status:

Foreign nationals in the United States with
approved immigration petitions may file for Adjustment of Status to adjust
their nonimmigrant status to permanent resident ("Green Card holder"). This
application is appropriate for spouses, parents and unmarried children of a
U.S. citizen with an approved immigrant petition and certain foreign
nationals who lawfully entered the United States and have maintained legal
status.

Advance Parole:

Foreign nationals in the process of adjusting their immigration status may
apply to travel outside of the U.S. This type of application is appropriate
for those immigrants with a pending adjustment of status application to be
able to return to the United States after traveling abroad for business or
personal reasons.

Consular Processing:

Foreign nationals currently outside of the
United States with approved immigration petitions must apply for consular
processing to receive permanent residence. This type of application is
appropriate for the immediate relatives of a U.S. citizen with an approved
family based immigrant visa petition and foreign nationals with an approved
employment based immigration visa petition.

Employment Authorization Document:

Immigrants who have applied to adjust their status to permanent resident
may apply to obtain an Employment Authorization Document. This application
is appropriate for the following individuals: (1) foreign nationals who have
filed an application for adjustment of status to lawful permanent resident
(Green Card); (2) F-1 students seeking optional practical training in an
occupation directly related to their area of studies (M-1 students for
practical training after completion of studies), or who are offered
off-campus employment under the sponsorship of a qualifying international
organization; (3) F-1, M-1 and J-1 students seeking off-campus employment
because of severe economic hardship; (4) the spouse and children of J Visa
holders; (5) the spouse of E and L Visa holders, (6) K-1 fiancés or fiancées
of U.S. citizens, or K-2 dependents; and (7) the spouse and children of
foreign government diplomats, officials, and NATO personnel.

Reentry Permit:

Permanent residents ("Green Card holders")
planning to leave the U.S. for more than a year must obtain a Reentry Permit
prior to leaving the country.

Removal of Conditions:

Green Card holders who obtained permanent residency based on marriage or
investment are subject to conditional residence status for a two years.
Conditional Permanent Residents must apply during the 90 days before their
second wedding anniversary to remove the conditions on their residence.
Replace or Renew Green Card:

Permanent residents may replace a lost, stolen,
mutilated, destroyed Green Card; permanent residents may also replace an
expired Green Card or one that will expire in six months.

Employment Based Green
Cards

Quota
Backlog:

The Immigration and
Nationality Act sets limits on how many green card visas may be issued each
Fiscal Year (October 1 through September 30) in all visa categories. In
addition, in the employment-based area where immigration is based on
employment and not family relationships or investment, nationals of each
country may obtain immigrant visas (i.e., a green card), in different
preference categories (i.e., EB-1, EB-2, EB-3). The law further provides
that no one country may have more than a specific percentage of the total
number of visas available annually. If these limits are exceeded in a
particular category, for a particular nationality, a waiting list is created
and applicants are placed on the list according to the date of their case
filing. This date is called a "Priority Date." The priority date is the
single, most important, factor in any immigration case.

Priority
Date:

If your category is employment-based and
requires a labor certification, the priority date is established on the date
a labor certification is filed with the State Workforce Agency. If your
category is employment-based but does not require a labor certification,
then the priority date is established on the date the CIS receives the I-140
Immigrant Visa Petition. However, the priority date does not attach to your
case until the I-140 has been approved.

Why is the Priority Date Important:

In order for an individual to obtain an
immigrant visa, a visa number must be available to you. This is referred to
as the priority date being "current." The priority date is current if there
is no backlog in the category, or if the priority date is on or before the
date listed as current in the State Department's monthly Visa Bulletin. This
Bulletin is accessible at www.travel.state.gov . You may
sign up online to have the Visa Bulletin automatically e-mailed to you by
the State Department each month.

Can Applicant Get Ahead on the Quota
Backlog List:

There is no way to get ahead on the list,
other than filing an Immigrant Visa Petition in a higher preference
category, provided that the individual and/or their position meet the
criteria to do so. Otherwise, the individual must wait until eligible to
apply along with others on the list before proceeding with filing the last
step in the green card process. The last step is accomplished by filing an
application to adjust status to that of a lawful permanent resident in the
U.S., or by obtaining an immigrant visa at a U.S. Consulate abroad.

Q & A

The I-140
filed on behalf of the applicant was based on a Labor Cert. Substitution.
What is the Priority Date: The
Priority Date is determined by the CIS. We will know the Priority Date
upon issuance of an I-140 Petition Approval Notice.

What is the difference between the
Visa Category being "U" (Unavailable) and “mm/dd/yy”
(Quota Backlog): Unavailable
means that there are no more visas available at all for the month. If
there is a date noted (i.e. 07-01-02), it is considered to be the cut-off
date, and that means that there is a “quota backlog”. Only individuals who
have a priority date earlier than the cut-off date may move forward with
the permanent resident process.

What does “C” mean:“Current” – this means that there
is no quota backlog in this category.

What does it mean to be "Current":If there is a “C” in your
employment-based category on the Visa Bulletin, then there is no quota
backlog and you may proceed with your I-485 adjustment application or
immigrant visa application.

If the Visa Bulletin shows a date of
6-1-02 and Applicants' Priority Date is 6-1-02, is applicants' Priority
Date Current: No. In order for the priority
date to be current, it must be a date prior to the date published
in the visa bulletin.

How often do the Backlogs Change and
will they improve: Each month, the State Department
issues the visa bulletin, usually in the middle of the month. When the
bulletin is issued, it will provide information that will take effect on
the first day of the following month. (i.e., on 9-12-05, the DOS released
the dates effective as of 10-1-05). Depending on the availability of
immigrant visas, the priority dates in each category and for each country
can change each month. However, please note that the priority dates can
also stay the same. They can move very slowly or progress by several
months or years. They can move forward or backward. Therefore, there is no
way to anticipate what the priority date will be in a future month or when
a category will become current.

The cut-off date id January 1, 2000. Does
this mean that it will take 5 years before the Priority Date will become
current:No. It all depends on how many
visas are used. Please see the answer to the above question.

Applicant has an approved I-140
petition with his/her previous employer and applicants' current employer
is sponsoring applicant now for a Green Card. What is applicants' Priority
Date:
You may use the Priority Date attached to the approved I-140 Petition. The
Priority Date will be printed in the top portion of the Form I-797
Approval Notice. You may use this priority date when you are eligible to
file your adjustment or immigrant visa application based on your current
employer’s green card process.